Versant Capital Management Inc Has $233,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,345 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 79.2% in the second quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 9,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 4,371 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 16,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,101,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $64,000. Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.1% during the second quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,525,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 734,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,897,000 after buying an additional 7,048 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $99.14 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $250.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $100.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.